As an artist, I have two really important questions for you . . .

Who cares for your heart? And who cares for your art?

Really? Who helps cultivate, nurture, and tend your most important assets?

In reading one of my favorite spiritual authors this morning, Dallas Willard writes in Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice . . .

The...

I love growing giant pumpkins. The only problem is, I stink at it.

This year at The Grove, we had a bumper crop of organic lemons and our avocados did pretty well too.

But on the small patch of soil in our backyard in San Clemente that's designated as our pumpkin patch, I couldn't grow one stinkin' pumpkin this past summer. I did get a nice...

In every great story or tale, something is at stake.

Let me repeat that: Something urgent and desperate is at stake.

If Indiana Jones doesn't stop the Nazis, the whole world is doomed to destruction.

If Luke Skywalker doesn't blow up the Death Star, the Empire will rule the galaxy.

If Wonder Woman doesn't defeat Ares, the god of war,...

I have two questions for you today.

And I will keep it very simple...

The first is, "Why are you an artist?"

How you answer this question will say a lot about you. 

Your identity. Your sense of vocation and calling. Your purpose. The aim and focus of your life.

The second question, for many of you, is a much more dangerous question.

...

(Play the video above to learn more about creative flow.)

Do you feel stuck, blocked, and frustrated by your lack of artistic output?

If so, you're not alone.

On the other hand, if you're riding a wave of great creative flow, living in the optimal experience of hitting your artistic goals, and producing art on a...

Are you traveling the way of weakness?

It's a path many of us do not want to take. Nor willingly choose. Or want to be dragged down.

When I was a kid, I vividly remember reading ads in the back of my comic books that warned me not to be a skinny weakling who got sand kicked in my face at the beach.

This was really important advice for me because...

The past month has been very difficult.

It's one of those times as a parents that Krista and I would wish upon no one.

More tears and heartache with one of our four children — yes, a teenager — than we've ever experienced in our lives.

I'll save the details for now, but suffice to say, all the grief, the tears, the waiting, and the...

I love and long for being in a creative flow. 

On a good day of writing, I can get in a zone for hours immersed in my work, completely enjoying what is before me. It's a lovely state where distractions are distant and time disappears.

When I am in a creative flow, it is like scuba diving where I pop on my mask, zip up my wetsuit,...

As an artist, is fear consuming all your spiritual, emotional and creative energy? Does fear have you sidelined instead of seeking everything your heart desires for creating your art with meaning and purpose? Maybe it's not outright fear you struggle with as an artist, but it's the familiar themes of worry, anxiety, and...